System and method for providing counseling service

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of the present invention provides a collect call method and system thereof, more particularly, in order to charge the called party with a uniform toll for collect call, which is determined by only the type and location of called party terminal. In one embodiment, the collect call method, system and a counsel service providing method use a free VoIP network for part of the voice call link and a charge PSTN network for the rest of the voice call link. In one embodiment, if the first link corresponding to the collect call request is established, the collect call switch calls the called party terminal to establish the second link, and billing on the second link is initiated.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application, and claims the benefitunder 35 U.S.C. §§120 and 365 of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2003/002447,filed on Nov. 14, 2003 and published on May 27, 2004, in English, whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods and systems for collect callservice, and more particularly, in order to charge a uniform toll forcollect calls regardless of location and/or type of receiver's terminal,methods and systems for establishing a call link between a caller andthe receiver through a VoIP network that is free for charge and aconventional network that is charged for the receiver.

2. Description of the Related Technology

Conventional telecommunication services have been a media for only voicecommunication, however, current telecommunication services are evolvingto new means for providing various high-quality services. The goal ofpresent telecommunication service provider is to provide a new telephoneservice, which is customized to the subscriber's needs, with low costand efficiency, and it is the most important thing to get acompetitiveness than rivals. Internet, the most suitable solution thatcan make this goal possible, becomes an essential part of ordinary lifewith explosively increasing number of users. The connection between PSTNnetwork and IP network gives various opportunities to wired serviceproviders, mobile service providers, ISP(Internet service provider)s,device manufacturers and value-added information service providers,respectively.

The efforts to provide the conventional telephone service andvalue-added service through Internet, both previously provided on PSTNnetwork, are being made by standardization bodies such as IETF, ITU,ETSI, and so on. IETF has proposed several standards such as SIP(sessioninitiation protocol), SDP(session description protocol), MEGACO(mediagateway control protocol), SIGTRAN(signaling transport) for Internettelephony and value-added service on Internet. H.323, ITU-T studied from1990, is a standard for communicating voice/data/image between terminalson packet network. In H.323, four essential entities, which areterminal, gateway, gatekeeper and MCU(multipoint control unit), weredefined for the purpose of communication on network, and H.323 v3supporting TCP and UDP is currently published. In order to meet theneeds for common solution such as VoN(voice over network), ETSI(EuropeanTelecommunications Standards Institute) establishedTIPHON(Telecommunications and Internet protocol Harmonization OverNetworks) for development and standardization in considering technicalissues occurring when SCN(Switched Circuit Network) and Internet areconnected to each other. Currently, among VoIP standards, H.323 is themost widely used. FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic of VoIP networkaccording to H.323 standard. PSTN phone 10 b can set up a call directedto a receiver's phone 13 through a registered gateway 11 a and VoIPstand-alone phone 10 a can also set up a call directed to the receiver'sphone 13 without gateway. Calling/called gateways 11 a, 11 b as a nodefor entering into a different network match networks that operate basedon H.323 standard and different standards, and convert data and controlsignals entered from one network to be suitable for the matched network.Gatekeeper 12, one entity of the H.323-based network, binds severalendpoints, for example, gateway, user terminal(PC, VoIP stand-alonephone), MCU(not shown) into a specified portion of the network called a“zone” and performs control/management/registration on them includedwithin the zone. Gatekeeper 12 is not an essential entity in H.323-basednetwork, however, it can perform some main tasks such as an addressconversion, a call acknowledgment, and a bandwidth control, and someadditional tasks such as a call control, a billing and generation ofstatistical data. So far, the most preferable billing method for thevoice telecommunication service that has been introduced in VoIP systemis a method using prepaid card. The prepaid car has exchangeable valuein various forms such as cash, point, mileage, coupon and so on. Becausethere are so many calling parties and calling terminals on VoIP networkrather than on PSTN network or mobile network and consequently it isvery difficult to charge respectively for each call, the prepaid cardwas the most effective solution for VoIP billing system. But, althoughservice charge of voice telecommunication service of VoIP network ischeaper than that of any other networks, the number of VoIP users doesnot increase because a user is forced to buy the prepaid card beforeusing VoIP network. In another method, a user may use postpaid aftercontracting with a service provider before use.

Differently from the VoIP system, the number of users for collect callin PSTN network is increasing more and more. Even if the collect callservice was originally provided by PSTN service providers who sufferedfrom rapid decrease of subscribers due to the development of mobiletelecommunication, currently the mobile telecommunication serviceproviders provide the same service. FIG. 1B illustrates atelecommunication system for collect call service. The caller enters acollect call identifier and a called party's number on phone 20 a, 20 band if the called party accepts the collect call, toll for the collectcall is charged to the called party. For example, if the caller 20 bmakes a call on mobile phone to the called party 25 a, PSTN subscriber,the tolls for using mobile network and PSTN network are charged to thecalled party. Thus, it is the problem of the conventional collect callservice that toll of collect call is changed according to not only thetype of called party's terminal but also the type of caller terminal.

FIG. 1C is a flowchart of the conventional counsel service based onARS(Auto Response System). Referring to FIG. 1C, a user who wants acharged counsel(hereinafter, “counsel user”) makes a phone call to thephone number that the counsel user already knows at step 30. The chargedcounsel services on PSTN/mobile network are provided through ARS, andthere are many kinds of systems such as fortune, stocks, tax and so on.On receiving a phone call, ARS generates several voice menus which thecounsel user can select and receives the selection of counsel user atstep 35. When the call is connected between the counsel user and theselected counselor at step 40, the counsel user must explain what hewants to be advised(hereinafter, “basic information”) at step 45, thenlistens the result of counsel(hereinafter, “counsel information”) atstep 50.

Most of ARS counseling systems charge the toll only after the call isconnected to the ARS counseling system. It takes almost time of chargedcounsel service to select counselor and explain basic information, andif the counsel user does not explain basic information properly,consequently it makes the total time of call longer. And, since thecommunication means in ARS counseling service is limited to only voice,a few kinds of services, e.g. such as fortune telling or interpretationof dream that can communicate basic information and counsel informationwith voice, are available through ARS. Also, since ARS counselingservice is provided in real time, if the counselor is off duty or pluralcounseling requests occur at the same time, the counseling servicecannot be provided. Also, since ARS counseling service requireshigh-cost CTI equipment, it makes difficult for the service provider tostart the ARS counseling service.

As aforementioned, there are some problems that a VoIP user is requiredto buy a prepaid card before use and the toll of collect call isdependent on the type of caller terminal as well as the type of calledparty terminal.

Summary of Certain Inventive Aspects

One aspect of the invention provides methods and systems for collectcall service based on VoIP network that do not require a prepaid card inorder to use a VoIP call and reduce toll being charged to the calledparty.

Another aspect of the invention provides methods and system for collectcall based on VoIP network, on these methods and systems only the typeand location of called party's terminal, not type and location of callerterminal, are considered to decide the toll of collect call andconsequently the toll of collect call is reduced.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of counseling servicebased on VoIP collect call system. In addition, the object of thepresent invention is to provide a desirable counsel service by enablingthe counsel user to freely send basic information and counselorselection information on his terminal and the letting the counselorproduce the fully-considered counsel information based on basicinformation.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of providing a collectcall service based on the VoIP system, the method comprising:establishing a first link between a called gateway and a collect callswitch, on receiving a collect call request from the VoIP networkexisting between a calling gateway being coupled to a caller terminaland the called gateway being coupled to the collect call switch, whereinthe caller terminal can access to the called gateway by use ofalready-known access information; establishing a second link between thecollect call switch and the called terminal; connecting the first linkand the second link to initiate a billing process for the second linkresponsive to a collect call acceptance in the form of DTMF signal fromthe called terminal; and releasing the connected link to end the billingprocess responsive to a normal call end request from one of the callerterminal and the called terminal.

Still another aspect of the invention provides a method of providing acollect call service based on the VoIP network consisting of pluralgateways, the method comprising: performing an authentication of thecaller terminal and a RAS(Registration/Admission/Status) approval of thecollect call request on receiving a collect call request from a callerterminal that already knows access information of a VoIP collect callsystem, and acquiring access information of a called gatewaycorresponding to the called terminal; connecting a calling gateway andthe called gateway by sending the collect call request to the calledgateway if RAS approval and access information of the called gateway areacquired; establishing a first link between the called gateway and acollect call switch responsive to the collect call request; establishinga second link between the collect call switch and the called terminal;connecting the first link and the second link to initiate billingprocess for the second link responsive to a collect call acceptance inthe form of DTMF signal from the called party's terminal; and releasingthe connected link to end the billing process responsive to a normalcall end request from one of the caller terminal and the calledterminal.

Still another aspect of the invention provides a collect call systembased on VoIP, comprising: a called gateway, being coupled to a callinggateway via the VoIP network, establishing a VoIP link to the callinggateway on receiving a collect call request from a caller terminal viaVoIP network, wherein the caller terminal can access to the calledgateway by use of already-known access information; and a collect callswitch, being coupled to a called terminal via one selected from a groupconsisting of PSTN network and mobile network, establishing a first linkto the called gateway and a second link to the called terminalresponsive to the collect call request, connecting the first link andthe second link responsive to a collect call acceptance from the calledterminal, and performing a billing process for the second link.

Still another aspect of the invention provides a method of providingcounsel service based on the VoIP collect call system, the methodcomprising: storing an affiliated website identifier, a collect callnumber that a counsel user submits and a counselor identifier indicatingwho the counsel user selects on database on receiving basic informationfrom a counsel user terminal being coupled to an affiliated website;sending basic information, the affiliated website identifier and thecollect call number to a counselor terminal corresponding to thecounselor identifier; and calculating a total call time by recording acall start time when the counselor terminal make a call to the collectcall number and a call end time when the call ends, wherein the basicinformation is one selected from a group consisting of text data, imagedata, sound data and combination of them.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides a method of providingcounsel service based on the VoIP collect call system, the methodcomprising: storing a collect call number that a counsel user submitsand a counselor identifier indicating who the counsel user selects ondatabase if a counsel user terminal being coupled to a counselingservice server sends basic information to a counselor terminal beingcoupled to the counseling service server; calculating a total call timeby recording a call start time when the counselor terminal make a callto the collect call number and a call end time when the call ends;assorting valid call and invalid call by using at least one of the callstart time, the call end time and the total call time; and calculating asum of the total call time of valid calls for the counselor, wherein thebasic information is one selected from a group consisting of text data,image data, sound data and combination of them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a VoIP network according to H.323 standard.

FIG. 1B illustrates the telecommunication system for collect callservice.

FIG. 1C is a flowchart of the conventional consulting service based onARS.

FIG. 2 illustrates the method for collect call service based on VoIPaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of the VoIP collect call system according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating the collect call method based onVoIP network according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of signaling on the VoIP collect call systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of signaling on the VoIP collect call systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of signaling via the collect call proxy server andthe gatekeeper.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method for providing a counsel service based onVoIP collect call service.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of method for counsel service according to anotherembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of method for counsel service according toanother embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withaccompanying drawings. But, describing the present invention withembodiments is only for helping those who skilled in the art tounderstand the present invention with ease, not intended to limit thespirit and scope of the present invention to the embodiments describedin the accompanying drawings and the detailed description. In thisspecification, for the sake of brief description, a H.323 compatibleVoIP system among several VoIP standards will be described. But, it isnot intended to limit the present invention to the H.323 compatible VoIPsystem, and it is apparent that those who skilled in the art can makeequivalent system, in embodiments of the present invention, compatiblewith SIP, MGCP and so on.

FIG. 2 illustrates the method for collect call service based on VoIPaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the collect call according to one embodiment of thepresent invention is serviced through the VoIP network existing betweenthe caller terminal and a called gateway working as PSTN-VoIP connectingnode and PSTN/mobile network existing between the called gateway and acalled terminal. The VoIP network comprises the caller terminal, thecalling gateway and called gateway, and can further comprise agatekeeper and a collect call proxy server. The PSTN network consists ofa collect call switch and a general switch, and mobile network consistsof MSC(mobile switch center) and BSC.

The difference between the collect call service of one embodiment of thepresent invention and conventional collect call service is that thecalled party pays toll for a charged link that is predetermined by thetype and/or location of the called terminal. Because all callerterminals in one embodiment of the present invention send call requestand perform voice call on the VoIP network, type of caller terminals issame. For example, if the type of caller terminal is a mobile terminaland the type of called terminal is a general phone being coupled toPSTN, toll for collect call including toll for PSTN use as well as tollfor mobile network use and network access fee is charged to the calledparty. In another example, if a caller terminal locates at foreigncountry, toll for collect call including a toll for local call in theforeign country as well as a toll for international call is charged tothe called party. But, since additional charge for using VoIP network inone embodiment of the present invention is not imposed to neither of thecaller and called party when the caller requests a collect call,consequently the toll for collect call becomes reduced. Hereinafterchange of the toll for collect call according to location of calledterminal will be described with example. In the case of the collect callswitch in Seoul, if the called terminal locates in Seoul, the calledparty pays local call charge as toll for the collect call, but if thecalled terminal locates in Kyung-gi province far from Seoul, the calledparty has to pay long distance call charge as toll for the collect call.Exceptionally, if caller terminal is coupled to a VoIP gateway of aservice provider for special telecom, call link between the callerterminal and the gateway is charged to the caller or called party. Towhom the service provider charges can be changed according to theservice provider's policy.

For this toll-saving effect, the caller terminal must have a VoIPaccessing function and a collect call switch must have a VoIP collectcall processing function that can distinguish the collect call requestof VoIP terminal from collect call requests of PSTN/mobile terminal toprocess differently. In one embodiment of the present invention, thecaller terminal accessible to VoIP network comprises (1) a computerincluding a gateway module embodied in software or hardware, (2) a VoIPstand-alone phone including a gateway module embodied in software orhardware and (3) a phone that can be connected to the calling gatewaythrough conventional phone networks(e.g. PSTN/mobile network).Hereinafter, the method and system for the VoIP collect call systemaccording to embodiments of the present invention will be described withaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of the VoIP collect call system according to oneembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the VoIPcollect call system consists of caller terminal, calling gateway, calledgateway, collect call switch and called terminal. Additionally, the VoIPcollect call system further comprises a gatekeeper(not shown) and acollect call proxy server 160. Some caller terminal, calling gateway andcalled gateway are connected to each other through an IP networksupporting VoIP standard(hereinafter, “VoIP network”), and collect callswitch and called terminal are connected to each other throughconventional network(hereinafter, “PSTN network”). Also, the term“gateway” in embodiments of the present invention means a nodeconnecting two different networks, and will be used to describe thepreferred embodiment having compatibility with H.323. Thus, it isapparent to those who skilled in the art that the gateway can bereplaced with equivalent entity in another VoIP network that supports adifferent standard from H.323

The caller terminal comprises a PC 100, a VoIP stand-alone phone 110 anda phone 150 that is coupled to a VoIP gateway through the PSTN network.The calling gateway can exist in various forms. In the case of PC 100,gateway module being embodied in software/hardware can be included in PC100 or server being coupled to the VoIP network, so that the caller canaccess to the VoIP network by PC 100. In the case of the VoIPstand-alone phone 110, a gateway module being embodied insoftware/hardware can be included in the phone 110 or an additionalgateway that several VoIP stand-alone phones can be connected to. In thecase of phone 150 that is coupled to the VoIP gateway through the PSTNnetwork, the calling gateway is coupled to or included in switch. Thecollect call request generated by caller terminals 100, 110, 150 includea collect call identifier, which is recognized as a collect call by thecalling gateway 130 b, 130 c or called gateway 130 a, and a phone numberof called terminal as a collect call number. And, the collect callrequest further includes access information of a called party so thatthe calling gateway 130 b, 130 c directly send the collect call requestto the called gateway 130 a. In the case that the VoIP collect callsystem includes the gatekeeper for RAS authentication and gatewayassignment or the collect call proxy server, the collect call requestcan further include access information of the called gateway orgatekeeper/collect call proxy server.

The called gateway 130 a is coupled to the calling gateway 130 b, 130 cthrough the VoIP network, and is electrically coupled to the collectcall switch. The called gateway enables a voice call between twoterminals by establishing H.323 compatible link to the calling gatewayresponsive to the collect call request from the caller terminals 100,110, 150. And, the called gateway notifies a VoIP collect call to thecollect call switch so that the collect call switch can perform abilling process.

In one embodiment, since the use of the VoIP network is not charged andthe use of PSTN link between collect call switch and called terminal isonly charged, access information of the called gateway can be openeddifferently from the conventional VoIP system. In the conventional VoIPsystem, if access information of calling/called gateway were opened,unauthorized calls for free use will occur frequently. In order toprevent unauthorized calls, the conventional VoIP system manages accessinformation in the gatekeeper and there is no way that user can know it.Thus, in one embodiment, the caller who already had a gateway for otherVoIP system can access directly to the called gateway by use of openedaccess information. In another embodiment, if the VoIP system includes agatekeeper or a collect call proxy server for managing plural calledgateways being located at each zone, access information of thegatekeeper or the collect call proxy server can be also opened asdescribed above.

The collect call switch 140 is electrically coupled to the calledgateway 130 a, and is coupled to the called terminal 120 via PSTNnetwork. Responsive to the collect call request from the called gateway130 a, the collect call switch 140 establishes PSTN links to the calledgateway 130 a and the called terminal 120, respectively, and connectseach link, namely, sets up a voice call between the caller terminal andthe called terminal, on receiving a collect call acceptance from thecalled terminal 120. And, if the voice call is set up between the callerterminal and the called terminal, a billing process is initiated. In oneembodiment, it is preferable to produce only the use of PSTN linkbetween the collect call switch and the called terminal as a toll forcollect call, and the toll for collect call is a multiplication of aunit charge that is predetermined according to the type of the calledterminal and total time of call. But, various billing methods can bemade according to the policy of telecommunication service provider whomanages the collect call switch 140, and even in these cases, the targetof billing is only the PSTN link between the collect call switch 140 andthe called terminal 120.

In one embodiment, in establishing voice call between the callerterminal and the called terminal, the collect call proxy server 160applies various business processes to different kind of networks(PSTNnetwork, VoIP network). Particularly, the collect call proxy server 160performs a network routing process for routing the collect call requestto collect call networks and VoIP networks, a call statistics/additionalservice providing process for providing caller statistics and CID(CallerID), and an OA&M(Operation, Administration, Management) process forgenerating billing statistics for each network and call management. Inaddition, if the VoIP collect call service is provided only to thesubscribed members, the collect call proxy server can have a subscriberauthentication process for confirming the validity of subscription andallowing the right to use the collect call service.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating the collect call method based onthe VoIP network according to one embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 4, at step 200, the caller terminal sends the collectcall request including a collect call identifier for indicating that thetype of call is collect call and a collect call number.

At step 210, on receiving the collect call request, the collect callnumber is extracted from the collect call request and then the calledterminal is called.

At step 220, if the called terminal answers the call, then it isdetermined whether the answer is the collect call acceptance or denial.According to the determination, if the answer is acceptance, then themethod proceeds to step 230; otherwise, the method terminates in step220.

At step 230, if the collect call acceptance is sent from the calledterminal, the voice call link is connected between the caller terminaland the called terminal. Over the connected voice call link, the callerand the called party can communicate with each other. On connectingvoice call link, billing process for counting total call time isinitiated.

At step 240, on receiving a normal call end request from the callerterminal or the called terminal, then the voice call link is releasedand the count of total time ends.

At step 250, the counted total call time and the unit charge ismultiplied to produce the toll for collect call and the toll for collectcall is charged to the called party.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of signaling on the VoIP collect call systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. Especially, theflowchart of FIG. 5 shows the signaling of the system that does notinclude a gatekeeper for RAS authentication.

Referring to FIG. 5, at step 300, the caller terminal sends the collectcall request to the calling gateway. The collect call request includesthe collect call identifier and the collect call number. If the callerterminal is VoIP stand-alone phone or PC, then the step 300 may beomitted.

At step 305, on receiving the collect call request, the calling gatewayperforms a call signaling to the called gateway corresponding to thecollect call identifier. Since this embodiment is performed at the VoIPsystem compatible with H.323, the call signaling is a message of H.225protocol. And, the gatekeeper is not included in the system so that thecall signaling is sent directly to the called gateway. On receiving thecall signaling, the called gateway and the calling gateway are connectedthrough the VoIP network. The control signaling messages are exchangedbetween the gateways according to the H.245 protocol(not shown).

At step 310, the called gateway requests PSTN link to the collect callswitch. The collect call switch establishes PSTN link to the calledgateway.

At step 315, the collect call switch calls the called terminal by use ofthe collect call number included in the collect call request. When thecalled terminal answers, the collect call switch establishes PSTN linkto the called terminal, and at step 320, outputs voice announcementtelling it is a collect call.

At step 325, after finishing voice announcement, the collect call switchconnects temporarily the voice call link between the caller terminal andthe called terminal so that the called party can recognize the caller.The step 325 may be omitted according to the telecommunication serviceprovider's policy.

At step 330 to 340, after releasing voice call link, a voiceannouncement for request to accept the collect call is outputted to thecalled terminal. On receiving DTMF signal corresponding to a specificbutton, the collect call switch analyzes the signal and determineswhether the called party accepts the collect call. According to thedetermination, if the called party accepts the collect call, the collectcall switch connects the voice call link between the caller terminal andthe called terminal and initiates the billing process.

Then, on receiving the normal call end request from the caller terminalor the called terminal, the voice call link is released and the totalcall time is calculated. And toll for collect call is generated.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of signaling on the VoIP collect call systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. Especially, theflowchart of FIG. 6 shows the signaling of gatekeeper including approvalof collect call and confirmation of billing data. The description sameas FIG. 5 will be omitted here if it does not hurt the spirit of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, at step 400, on receiving a PSTN link connectingthe request corresponding to the collect call request, the callinggateway establishes PSTN link to the caller terminal. If the callerterminal is VoIP stand-alone phone or PC, then the step 400 may beomitted.

At step 405, if the PSTN link is established, the calling gateway sendsthe collect call request and information about the caller party terminalto the call proxy server to relay them to the called gateway. Inaddition, the calling gateway can request the call proxy server toconfirm that the caller party is valid subscriber who can use thecollect call service and to perform a billing process for the callerparty, if it is needed.

At step 410 and 415, on receiving the collect call request and callerparty information, the collect call proxy server determines whether thecaller party has the valid right to use collect call service and thensends the result of determination to the caller terminal via the callinggateway. In more detail, the collect call proxy server relays thecollect call request to one of collect call networks and VoIP networkaccording to the collect call number, generates call statistics for eachcaller, and provides additional services such as CID. And, the collectcall proxy server produces billing statistics for each network andmanages call processes. Also, the collect call proxy server, if billingprocess for each caller is required, can perform confirmation processabout this.

At step 420, the collect call proxy server sends a call signalingmessage corresponding to the collect call request to the called gatewayso that the calling gateway and the called gateway are connected to eachother.

Since step 425 to step 455 are same as step 310 to step 340, descriptionabout these steps will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of signaling via the collect call proxy server andthe gatekeeper. Especially, the flowchart of FIG. 7 shows the signalingof the VoIP system including the gatekeeper for RAS. The descriptionsame as FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 will be omitted here if it does not hurt thespirit of the present invention.

Since step 500, 505 and 515 are same as step 400 to step 410 of FIG. 6,description about these steps will be omitted.

At step 510, on receiving the collect call request and caller partyinformation, the collect call proxy server sends RAS message to thegatekeeper that manages all entities of the VoIP system. On receivingRAS message, the gatekeeper registers the calling gateway and approvesthe requested collect call. Also, the gatekeeper processes the collectcall request: searches access information of a called gateway suitablefor processing the collect call request.

At step 520, the gatekeeper sends the result of registration of thecalling gateway and approval of the collect call and access informationof the called gateway to the collect call proxy server. On receiving theresult of approval of the collect call and access information of thecalled gateway, the collect call proxy server approves the caller partyto use collect call service.

At step 525, the collect call proxy server sends the result of approvalto the caller party terminal, and at step 530, sends the collect callrequest to the called gateway according to access information receivedfrom the gatekeeper so that the calling gateway and the called gatewayare connected to each other.

In another embodiment, the caller terminal, which receives the approvalfrom the collect call proxy server at step 525, can send callerinformation stored in the caller terminal to the gatekeeper via thecollect call proxy server. If approval is acquired, then callerinformation is sent to the called gateway and is displayed on the calledterminal. Where, caller information is text, image or combination oftext and image.

Since step 535 to 565 are same as step 425 to step 455 of FIG. 6,description about these steps will be omitted.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method for providing a counsel service based on theVoIP collect call service. Referring to FIG. 8, at step 600, the counseluser selects a counsel service by use of a client program installed oncounsel user terminal, and then selects a counselor who provides theselected counsel service from counselor list. Where, the counsel userterminal is one of electronic data processing devices(e.g. computer,PDA, notebook computer, and so on) being coupled to wired/wirelessInternet or cellular phone being coupled to mobile network. Moreover,the client program installed in the counsel user terminal is ageneral-purpose web browser or dedicated browser. Where, a plug-inprogram for using the counsel service may be installed in thegeneral-purpose web browser in advance, or may be automaticallydownloaded from an affiliated website or counsel service managementserver when the counsel user uses the counsel service.

After counsel service and counselor are selected, the counsel user sendsbasic information to the counselor at step 605. If the counsel serviceis provided through the affiliated website, the counsel user uploads thebasic information to a bulletin board or sends it to the counselorthrough the affiliated website. Where, sending the basic informationthrough affiliated website may be accomplished by one of following ways:(1) the counsel service management server relays it to the counselorterminal, (2) the affiliated website sends it directly to the counselorterminal(not via the counsel service management server), (3) the counselterminal receives it directly from the affiliated website(not via thecounsel service management server). If the counsel service is providedby P2P method, the basic information is sent directly to the counselorterminal from the counsel user terminal. Data transmission technology iswell known to those who skilled in the art so that detailed descriptionwill be omitted.

Basic information is one of text data, image data, sound data andcombination of them. Since information that can be delivered in voicecan be changed according to the counsel user and it may be impossible todeliver all information especially in a specialized counsel service, thecounsel user can provide basic information being needed for counselor invarious forms of data. For example, in the case of fortune tellingservice using Taro cards, the counsel user has to select several cardsfrom a set of Taro cards to receive the counsel service. But, in thecase of phone counsel service using ARS, since the counsel user cannotselect cards, the counsel user receives simple information in text fromInternet or has to meet a fortuneteller in person at present. But,according to one embodiment of the present invention, when the counseluser selects cards and fortuneteller on his terminal, the fortunetellercan receive information about which cards the counsel user selected, andcounsel information in voice can be delivered to the counsel user'sphone by collect call. In the case of patent counsel service, there aremany cases that the counsel user cannot explain fully what he invents.Thus, to receive a patent counsel service, an inventor must meet apatent attorney so that time and financial loss are inevitable. That is,in the case of invention having low patentability, the inventor needs tomeet the patent attorney in person and then provides supplementaryinformation to receive correct counsel service. One embodiment of thepresent invention can be applied to other specialized counsel servicessuch as medical, tax, law and so on.

On receiving basic information, the counselor analyzes basic informationat step 610, then makes a collect call to the counsel user at step 615.Where, the counselor can make a collect call from computer to computeror computer to phone by just clicking a call button displayed on histerminal

The counsel user who receives the collect call from the counselordetermines whether he accepts or not at step 620, and then listenscounsel information from the counselor at step 625 and 630.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of method for counsel service according to anotherembodiment of the present invention, more particularly, method forcounsel service provided through the affiliated website. Referring toFIG. 9, after accessing to the affiliated website that provides counselservice by his terminal 700-1, . . . , 700-n(hereinafter, “700”), thecounsel user selects desiring counsel service and counselor at stepS800. The counselor can be selected by not only the counsel user butalso the counsel service management server. Where, the website serverthat manages the affiliated website may be logically/physicallyseparated from the counsel service management server, or not separatedfrom the counsel service management server. Namely, the counsel servicecan be provided by one service provider or more than two cooperatingservice providers.

Through the affiliated website, an affiliated website identifier such asPIN, which is assigned to each affiliated website, a collect call numberthat the counsel user submits, a counselor identifier indicating who thecounsel user selects and a counsel user identifier such as ID of thecounsel user are sent to the counsel service management server, andbasic information is sent via the counsel service management server ordirectly to the counselor terminal 730-1, . . . 730-n(hereinafter “730”)at step 810. In another embodiment, the affiliated website identifier,the collect call number and the counsel user identifier may be sent tothe counselor terminal together with basic information. Of course, anotice indicating there is a counsel request may be sent to thecounselor terminal without sending basic information in the bulletinboard, and the counselor may read basic information in the bulletinboard or download it to his terminal. Although many embodiments can bemade by changing the step of providing basic information to thecounselor terminal, however, if the counsel user can provide basicinformation in various forms and the counselor can produce counselinformation based on basic information, these embodiments cannot departfrom the scope of the present invention.

On receiving the affiliated website identifier, the collect call number,the counselor identifier and the counsel user identifier, the counselservice management server 720 stores them in database, and sends theaffiliated website identifier and the collect call number to thecounselor terminal 730 corresponding to the counselor identifier at stepS820. The counsel service management server 720 may send a counselrequest identifier, e.g. a serial number assigned to each counselrequest, for distinguishing plural counsel requests of same counsel userto the counselor terminal 730. In another embodiment, if basicinformation is received from the affiliated website 710, basicinformation may be sent to the counselor terminal 730, or a noticeindicating there is a counsel request may be sent to the counselorterminal 730 and the counselor can acquire basic information afteraccessing to the counsel service management server 720.

After receiving the affiliated website identifier and the collect callnumber from the counsel service management server 720 and producingcounsel information by analyzing basic information, when the counselormakes a collect call to the provided collect call number, the counselorterminal 730 notifies a start of collect call to the counsel servicemanagement server 720 at step S830. It is preferable to hide the collectcall number from the counselor and to delete it right after thecounselor clicks the call button and the counselor terminal getsconnected to the collect call switch. It is for preventing illegal orunauthorized use of personal information by the counselor. On receivingthe collect call start notification from the counselor terminal, thecounsel service management server 730 stores a call start time relativeto the affiliated website identifier, the collect call number, thecounselor identifier and the counsel user identifier.

Counselor terminal 730 sends the collect call number to the collect callswitch 740 at step S840. By this step, the counselor can communicatewith the counsel user in voice via VoIP link formed between counselorterminal 730 and the collect call switch 740. Detailed description ofsignaling between the collect call switches, the gatekeeper and gatewaysfor call set up/voice call/call release will be omitted here. Since theservice provider having the collect call switch performs a billingprocess actually, it is preferable for the counselor terminal 730 tosend the affiliated website identifier and the counselor identifiertogether with the collect call number to the collect call switch 740.The collect call switch 740 generates CDR including the call start time,a call end time, the collect call number, the affiliated websiteidentifier and the counselor identifier, and stores CDR in billingdatabase. The stored CDR may be used for finding invalid call such as noanswered call or abnormally ended call.

The collect call switch 740 forms a voice call link to the collect callnumber, and if the counsel user accepts the collect call, then connectsthe counsel user and the counselor over the voice call link at stepS850. If the call ends normally, the collect call switch records thecall end time, and also the counsel service management server 720 canrecord the call end time if the counselor terminal 730 notifies the endof collect call.

If the call ends, the counsel service management server 720 and thecollect call switch assorts valid calls and invalid calls periodically,generates total call time for each affiliated website and counselor, anddistributes counsel service charges based on the predetermined rate.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of method for the counsel service according toanother embodiment of the present invention, more particularly, methodfor the counsel service that the counsel user and the counselor cancommunicate to each other through an instant messenger or Internetmessenger. Hereinafter, difference from the method of FIG. 9 will bemainly described.

When a counsel user logs on a counsel service management server 720having plural logging counselors, available counsel service list andcounselors for each counsel service list are displayed on the counseluser terminal 700 at step S900.

If the counsel user selects a counselor and inputs basic information,basic information is sent to the counselor terminal 730 at step S920. Inthis embodiment, when the counsel user selects a counselor, a chattingwindow is displayed on the counsel user terminal and the counselorterminal at the same time, and the counsel user can send basicinformation by inputting chatting message. Also, if the counsel userselects special kind of counsel service, which requires the counseluser's selection from what the counselor provides, e.g. fortune tellingservice using Taro card, then a selection window from where the counseluser can make a selection is displayed on the counsel user terminal. Theselection made by the counsel user is sent to the counselor terminal730. Since following steps are same as step S830 to S850 of FIG. 9,detailed description will be omitted here.

In this specification, the method and system for providing collect callservice on the VoIP network, which have an effect of reducing toll forcollect call, and the method for providing counsel service based on theVoIP collect call system were described with the preferred embodiments.But, it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention tothe aforementioned embodiments. It is apparent to those who skilled inthe art that various changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirits and scope of the present invention. Also, thescope of the present invention will be determined by the followingclaims.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the caller can use make avoice call on the VoIP network without buying a prepaid card before use,and the uniform toll for collect call, which is determined by only thetype and location of called party terminal, is charged to a called partyso that the financial burden of called party is reduced. Thus, throughthis, it is expected that collect call service becomes widely used.

In another embodiment, since access information of the VoIP collect callsystem of the present invention is opened, so anyone can access to theVoIP collect call system. Because of this point, unauthorized call orhacking call for using the VoIP voice call service cannot happen andhacking to gateway or gatekeeper becomes meaningless.

In another embodiment, since the counsel user does not need to waste thecharged counseling time any more, he can receive counsel information atlow cost. According to the present invention, the counsel user canfurther provide basic information freely from the limit of forms beforereceiving counsel information, more fulfilled counsel service can beexpected.

In still another embodiment, since there are no limits that thecounselor must provide a counsel service in real time and cannot respondto more than two counsel requests at the same time, the counselor canprovide counsel service successively. Also, according to the presentinvention, since the counselor can receive basic information beforehand,the counselor can provide more fulfilled counsel information and variouskinds of counsel service that ARS cannot provide. In still anotherembodiment, the counsel service provider can provide various kinds ofservices without buying expensive CTI equipment.

While the above description has pointed out novel features of theinvention as applied to various embodiments, the skilled person willunderstand that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in theform and details of the device or process illustrated may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scopeof the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by theforegoing description. All variations coming within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are embraced within their scope.

1-12. (canceled)
 13. A method of providing counsel service based on acollect call system, the method comprising: storing i) an affiliatedwebsite identifier, ii) a collect call number that a counsel usersubmits, and iii) a counselor identifier indicating a counselor selectedby the counsel user on receiving basic information from a counsel userterminal being in data communication with an affiliated website; sendingbasic information, the affiliated website identifier and the collectcall number to a counselor terminal corresponding to the counseloridentifier; and calculating a total call time by recording a call starttime when the counselor terminal makes a call at the collect call numberand a call end time when the call ends, wherein the basic information isone of the following: text data, image data, sound data and combinationof them.
 14. The method as stated in claim 13, wherein the collect callnumber that is sent to the counselor terminal is not exposed to thecounselor and is deleted after the collect call ends.
 15. The method asstated in claim 13, further comprising providing an available counselingservice list and a counselor list corresponding to the counselingservice to the counsel user terminal on accessing to the affiliatedwebsite.
 16. The method as stated in claim 13, further comprising:assorting valid calls and invalid calls based on at least one of thecall start time, the call end time and the total call time; andcalculating a sum of the total call time of valid calls for one of thecounselor and the affiliated website.
 17. The method as stated in claim16, wherein the assorting comprises comparing the call start time, thecall end time and the total call time with call detail record (CDR)produced by a collect call switch.
 18. A method of providing counselservice based on a collect call system, the method comprising: storingi) a collect call number that a counsel user submits and ii) a counseloridentifier indicating a counselor selected by the counsel user if acounsel user terminal, being in data communication with a counselingservice server, sends basic information to a counselor terminal being indata communication with the counseling service server; calculating atotal call time by recording a call start time when the counselorterminal makes a call at the collect call number and a call end timewhen the collect call ends; assorting valid calls and invalid callsbased on at least one of the call start time, the call end time and thetotal call time; and calculating a sum of the total call time of validcalls for the counselor, wherein the basic information is one of thefollowing: text data, image data, sound data and combination of them.19. The method of claim 13, further comprising: establishing a firstcommunication link between the counselor terminal and a collect callswitch; and establishing a second communication link between the collectcall switch and the counsel user terminal, wherein the billing for thecollect call is made only for the second communication link.
 20. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising: establishing a firstcommunication link between the counselor terminal and a collect callswitch; and establishing a second communication link between the collectcall switch and the counsel user terminal, wherein the billing for thecollect call is made only for the second communication link. 21-40.(canceled)
 41. A method of providing a counsel service, comprising:receiving information from a counsel user, the information comprising acollect call number; sending the information to a counselor affiliatedwith a counsel service provider; enabling the counsel to make a collectcall to the collect call number; and recording a total call time of thecollect call.
 42. The method of claim 41, further comprising providing alist of counselors to the counsel user and permitting the counsel userto select one of the counselors.
 43. The method of claim 42, wherein thelist of counselors is provided via a website.
 44. The method of claim41, wherein receiving information from the counsel user comprisingreceiving the information from a client program installed on a userterminal.
 45. The method of claim 44, wherein the user terminalcomprises an electronic data processing device.
 46. The method of claim44, wherein the client program comprises a web browser.
 47. The methodof claim 41, wherein the collect call is made from a counselor terminalthrough the counsel service provider.
 48. The method of claim 41,further comprising analyzing the information received from the counseluser.
 49. The method of claim 41, further comprising: establishing afirst communication link between the counselor and a collect callswitch; establishing a second communication link between the collectcall switch and the counsel user; and connecting the first communicationlink and the second communication link in response to a collect callacceptance from the counsel user.
 50. The method of claim 41, whereinthe collect call is at least partially made over a VOIP system.
 51. Themethod of claim 41, wherein the information further comprises at leastone of a website identifier, a counsel identifier, and a counsel useridentifier.
 52. The method of claim 41, further comprising: storing theinformation in a database of a counsel service management server; andsending the stored information to the counselor.
 53. The method of claim52, further comprising notifying the counsel service management serverwhen the collect call is made by the counselor.
 54. The method of claim41, wherein the information is received from the counsel user through aninstant message service.
 55. A server system for providing counselservice, comprising: a management server configured to receiveinformation comprising a collect call number from a counsel user andsave the information in a database; a counsel terminal in communicationwith the management server and being configured to receive the storedinformation from the management server, the counsel terminal beingconfigured to make a collect call to the collect call number; and acollect call switch configured to connect the counsel terminal with thecounsel user in response to a collect call acceptance from the counseluser.
 56. The system of claim 55, wherein the collect call switch isconfigured to receive a notification from the counsel terminal that thecollect call is being made and record a total call time of the collectcall.
 57. The system of claim 55, wherein the management server isconfigured to provide a list of counselors to the counsel user andpermit the counsel user to select one of the counselors.
 58. The systemof claim 55, wherein the management server comprises a website forreceiving the information from the counsel user.
 59. The system of claim55, wherein the collect call switch is configured to: establishing afirst communication link to the counselor; establishing a secondcommunication link to the counsel user; and connecting the first andsecond communication links in response to the collect call acceptancefrom the counsel user.
 60. The system of claim 55, wherein themanagement server is configured to enable the counsel terminal to makethe collect call over a VOIP system.
 61. The system of claim 55, whereinthe information further comprises at least one of a website identifier,a counsel identifier, and a counsel user identifier.
 62. The system ofclaim 55, wherein the management server is configured to receive theinformation through an instant message service.